Power Your Profit with Susie Carder: An EOFire Classic from 2021

0:01Boom! Shake the room, Fire Nation. JLD here and welcome to Entrepreneurs on Fire. Brought to you by the HubSpot. Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals with great shows like Success Story Podcast. Today, we're pulling a timeless EO Fire episode from the archives, so the giveaway may not be active, and we'll be breaking down how to power your profits. To drop these value bombs, I brought Susie Carter into EO Fire Studios. Susie is a globally recognized profitability coach. Her radical business strategies have helped thousands of entrepreneurs and small business owners achieve exponential growth and triple their profits.

0:36But Fire Nation, today we're talking about how wealth is your birthright. It is not just for some of us. It's for all of us. There are three types of people, Fire Nation. What type are you? Listen to find out and so much more. And a big thank you for sponsoring today's episode goes to Susie and our sponsors. Business Made Simple, hosted by Donald Miller, is brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Business Made Simple takes the mystery out of growing your business. join my friend, Donna Miller, each week as he shares value bombs on topics like the secret to making better marketing decisions.

1:11Listen to Business Made Simple wherever you get your podcasts. Many EO Fire listeners have launched non-food franchises and Fran Bridge Consulting has guided them. Fran Bridge's founder and frequent EO Fire guest, John Ostenson, has done more placements than any other in the country and his service is free. Sign up for a consultation with John or get a free copy of his book, non-food franchising at franbridgeconsulting.com. Suzy, say what's up to Fire Nation and share something interesting about yourself that most people don't know. Okay, so I am one of nine. There's Bobby, Ronnie, Stevie, Terry, Joni, Shelley, Suzy, Kelly, Debbie.

1:52Wow, how many times have you done that approximately in your life? Oh my gosh, and the funny part is my parents, like what, they lack the IE? Like we're all Suzy, Bobby, Ronnie, Stevie, It did make it nice, but when you got in trouble, they would go through all the kids' names. Bobby, Stevie, Terry, what kid am I yelling at right now? Who am I yelling at? I just know that I'm mad. And Fire Nation, as I shared during the introduction, we're talking all about Power Your Profits. And man, we got some exciting things to talk about here today. And I want to start, Susie, with asking you what you are seeing happening to businesses throughout this pandemic.

2:31Juicy, juicy, juicy. So I think there's three types of people in this pandemic, John. The first type that are the partiers and are like, woohoo, day drinking, let's do it. Oh, I saw that when I was in San Diego last month. Then the second people are like, let's get back to normal. We just, I can't wait for it to get back to normal. Let's just get back to normal. I'm sorry. I don't think there was, this is a new norm. We've got to figure out the new norm. And the third type of people are the generals. like you and myself and people that are like, okay, got it. Let me pivot. How do I do this different?

3:03How do I make this happen? What do I need to do? And so really there are people that are waiting are the people that are missing the train. The beauty, I always believe that there's always a gift that's wrapped in sandpaper. So this is a gift. It's a crappy gift right now, but we're learning to pivot our businesses. We're learning to pivot how we serve our clients. you know i i had 30 events scheduled for 2020 and immediately went from 30 events to none because they were all live and they didn't know what they were going to do and i was in the book launch right so i had my whole book tour scheduled spent thousands of dollars right and they're like nope the country's closed down i'm like dang it not doing it wasn't an option right it was like okay how do i what do we need to do so i think you gotta be radical and think outside the box It's turning lazy entrepreneurs back into innovators again.

3:57I've seen some amazing innovation, even in my own business, like things I didn't think we could do online. We're doing online, how we're serving our clients, really just going above and beyond even than what we did before, being creative, asking our customers, how do they need to be served? I think as consumers, we're starving, starving for connection, starving to connect with people and see people. We're starving for the answer. You know, so many people are in COVID fatigue right now. Like, what do I do? How do I do it? I can't keep doing it myself. I need to be inspired. That's why I listen to podcasts like yours, right?

4:32As much as I'm an expert, I'm a student first. What makes me a really good coach is because I'm a really, really good student. And I want to learn from the best of the best. And what I know, John, that you are bringing the best of the best and the innovators and the marketplace to go help me, help me, help me, help your sister out. Help your sister out, John. Well, thank you for that, Susie. I received that and I want to kind of break back down for Fire Nation. A couple of things I was taking notes on is, you know, one, two, three, number one, there's a partiers and guess what Fire Nation, they're going to be worse off after this, you know, gets over.

5:02Then there's a back to the normalers who are going to be, you know, unfortunately worse off, you know, after we, you know, figure some things out later because, you know, things aren't going back to normal. This is a new normal. And then there's the generals and this is our new reality Fire Nation. And the generals are saying, Hey, what's the best course going forward from here forward? Those are people that are going to win at a high level. And I love that phrase you use, the gift wrapped in sandpaper, because it's so visual and it's so true. And so I've heard you say this, Susie, because I've done my research on you as well.

5:32And I've heard you maybe make a comment that this could actually be the best time to start a business. Can you back that up? Absolutely. What I love is it's leveled the playing field. So everyone that had the upper hand on you, we all had to reinvent our business at the same time. we all had to re-look at I can't do business as normal now I have manufacturers that I coach so we had to completely rework their business and how they're going to serve their market and how to protect their clients and how to protect their staff right from coming into a workplace they were an essential business so they got to stay open but in the level of staying open they had to reinvent how they did it versus getting mad and just being pissy about it to go okay if I have to reinvent this?

6:18How do I reinvent it? And then how do I make money as I was making it? Because our capacity was more, right? So I have doctors, attorneys, graphic designers, like it's a plethora of business right out there. And all of us have had to reinvent. So it's leveled the playing field and the people that are waiting for it to get back to normal. I'm just going to wait until the country opens. We don't know when that's going to be we all thought it was going to be. I remember when it started in March, we're like, well, we'll keep our event live in September, right? We're like, okay, we're not keeping it live in September.

6:49They're like, we'll move it to next September. I'm like, you can move it to next September. I don't know if that's going to happen or not. So I got to figure this out because I can't wait for my business to happen. I got to make my business happen. Leveled the playing field, Fire Nation. I love that visual because it's just true because we've had to hit that restart button in a lot of different areas. And one thing that I've recognized over and over again, the businesses that are actually crushing it right now is they realize the truth in the fact that the higher the barrier, the lower the competition.

7:18And guess what? The barrier was raised in difficulty with this pandemic going on. Yes, it is harder, but instead of complaining about it, just say, wow, in some ways, this is actually not a horrible thing because now there's less people willing and able to do the thing to be my competition. So there's less competition. There's lower competition across the board. I want to ask this, Uzi. What is the single biggest thing that is stopping entrepreneurs from succeeding right now today? Oh, juicy, John. I'm going to tell you what I see every single day is you got your plan in your head. Yeah. Right.

7:56So I'll say, hey, do you have a business plan? Like somebody wants to work with me? Great. Send me your business plan. They're like, oh, well, I have one. I'm like, great. Can you send it to me? Well, it's in my head. That's an idea. Let's get it out of your head, get it on paper, and then we can execute it. Like quit walking around not getting clear, your unclarity is stopping you from your financial wealth, your confusion about what you do. Listen, when you start putting yourself out there, there's a ton of people that say, can we play? Can we play? Can we play? That's like, that's like sparkle, squirrel, right?

8:29Rainbows, butterflies, like, no, no, no, no, no. Is that the right partner? Is that the right thing for you to do? Is that the highest income producing activity you can do. So one, let's get it out of your head and get it on paper. You will save hundreds of thousands of dollars because you'll see what your idea is, isn't a big moneymaker, right? You got to run the numbers. You got to see, is this going to be profitable before you spend dollar one? We are just ignorance on fires, entrepreneurs. I'm going to start this business and I'm going to run. Okay, hold up. Wait a minute. Like that song, but I want you to stop and go, does this make fiscal sense?

9:04And a lot of us are pulling our pricing out of our hiney, right? We're like, well, John charges$1 ,000 and Susan charges$1 ,500 and Bob charges$5 ,000. I think I'm more like Susie, but less like John. I'm going to charge$2 ,200. Okay, that has nothing to do with your pricing. But again, it's all in our head and we're making it up. Now, I'm creative and I'm making stuff up, but I'm putting a plan around what I'm making up, right? You made up your business. You said, here's what I want to do. Here's how I want to serve the market. Now, how do we make it work financially? We get in trouble as entrepreneurs because 88 % of businesses aren't profitable.

9:4388 % that is bananas. And only 1.7 % of the businesses today are in that million dollar mark. And that's grossing a million. And even those 1.7 aren't paying themselves a proper paycheck. So they're making a million, but they're not even paying themselves what they would if they were working for a company. So that's just juicy because you're running it from your head versus putting it on paper and looking at all the indicators. Is this profitable? Is it not? Is it a good idea? Is it not? A good idea doesn't mean good business. Fire Nation, Susie's laying out a black and white plan here. It's not rocket science.

10:21This isn't something that's like, oh, my God, I need to go get a Ph.D. in X, Y or Z. This is, hey, here's a simple plan, a simple process. You need to take these steps to make it happen, to have these things down on paper so it's out there, not just in your head, in the world. And we have some really powerful things coming up, like what is working during this pandemic for small business owners. We're talking about a huge factor in the money mindset game that's holding so many people back from success. And this is actually Susie's specialty, so I'm really excited to hear what she has to say. as soon as we get back from thanking those sponsors.

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12:45That's 50 % off plus free shipping when you visit hellofresh.com slash 50EOF and use code 50EOF. More and more entrepreneurs and investors are discovering the awesome franchise opportunities that exist across a variety of industries. Franchising can simply be the better path. An interest in franchising is at an all-time high. Lucky for you, John Ostenson, founder of Franbridge Consulting and frequent EO Fire guest, is here to help you explore the premier franchise opportunities today. John and his Franbridge Consulting team are part of the largest brokerage in the U.S. and have vetted the market thoroughly.

13:25Franbridge is hands down the premier source for the best opportunities in the franchise world, from testosterone replacement therapy to insulation, youth soccer, to lawn fertilization, senior care, to water mitigation, dumpsters, to pet grooming, and more. John has served as an Inc. 500 franchisor and is a multi-brand franchisee himself, and he does more placements than any other in the country. Sign up for a free consultation call with John today or get a free copy of his book, Non-Food Franchising, at FranBridgeConsulting.com. That's FranBridgeConsulting.com. Suzy, we're back and I want to chat a little bit about what you are seeing with your clients, with yourself, with other individuals that is actually and currently working during this pandemic for those small business owners.

14:13Awesome. So I'll give a couple different examples. So I have a speaking training consulting company. And so what's really working is just shifting it all online. But now you have to pay attention to all the details, right? My team is bigger. My support team is bigger. But when I say bigger, they're volunteers. So I haven't increased my overhead. I've actually decreased my overhead because I'm not paying for hotel. I'm not paying for food. I'm not paying for my staff to come in. So my programs have actually been more profitable. And our conversion has been the same as it was at a live event, which, John, I didn't think I could do.

14:47Right. Right. Because live event was my sweet spot. I'm touching you. I'm feeling you. You're doing the work. You're connecting. Well, we created this whole environment where we teach our clients how to do the same thing now. We're closing anywhere between$600 ,000 and$800 ,000 with 100 people in our room. So we have small rooms, but we have mighty rooms. So I want you to look at the most important thing to look at when you're looking right now is not how many customers you're getting in. It's how many qualified clients. Qualified clients are different than fans. People go, oh, I have 200 ,000 people on my Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram.

15:23Well, who cares? They're not all buyers. how many are qualified to purchase right that's the sweet spot so in my manufacturing company that i'm coaching we took her business that did three million last year this year we're on target to do six million because we quit doing all these little tiny jobs and went let's go find the qualified client that wants what you have that will spend 10 times more with you than running around chasing all these little contracts we've made more money we've gotten more profitable we've had less challenges because we're working with less people right so I want you to look at how many qualified clients do you need in your business to hit that 250 a million whatever your number is right my job is to help you see the possibility by working smart and working with the right people versus just trying to get a bunch of people in your community right getting a bunch of people on your list a list does not mean customers a list just means you're exposing yourself to them.

16:23So finding that qualified client, and we know historically in working with my clients that you'll close about one in 10, the average salesperson. So I've got to have 10 qualified clients to close one. A lot of us just don't have the right clients coming into your business, right? You have looky-loos, you have some timers, sometimes they buy, sometimes Right. They're not loyal. Let's go find the loyal customer that loves and adores what you do, that speaks your language, that gets it. And they're willing to swipe the credit card. That's a distinction. A lot of people go, I just want clients that can pay me because I'm doing what I'm doing for free, but they can't pay me.

17:05Okay. You're not in front of the right people, right? You're working on your ego versus working on your business. Oh, ouch. I'll give you a little tough love. A little tough love coming at you from Susie Carter and Fire Nation. Ask yourself these questions, please. Are you profitable? Are you one of those like a million dollar businesses, quote unquote, that's literally paying yourself like$20 ,000 a year? Like, are you profitable? Like you have an opportunity here, like Susie's done to trim things down, to get lean, to cut out some expenses that aren't like possible or necessary anymore. And I love how Susie talks about the power of the small but mighty.

17:43Embrace the power of the small but mighty Fire Nation because guess what? Virtual is working and hey, what's the alternative? So embrace this and look at your qualified buyers. That is the sweet spot. How many do you need to hit your numbers? You have to know these things. Then you go get those number of qualified buyers. You need 10? Well, let's go get 100 qualified buyers because like Susie said, one in 10. And that's an average salesman or saleswoman. And guess what? You can get better. Maybe you can do two in 10. And that changes everything, by the way. You double that, just go from one to two.

18:16Now you're cooking. So let's end with a bang, Susie, because you really focus on the profitability side of things. So how big a factor is money mindset in our business as entrepreneurs? Oh, this is a juicy one. Listen, we all have limiting beliefs. We have money beliefs, but we also have what we call inherited beliefs. So John, the inherited belief is what was the belief that was handed down from your mom, your dad, your grandma, your grandpa, your aunt, your uncle, your neighbors, your community. I grew up poor, right? There was nine of us. And I don't mean the kind of poor, like we didn't know we were poor.

18:56No, we knew we were poor, right? So I had to do a ton of work on this. And when I I realized, John, I was really good at making money, but not good at keeping money because we always talked about we were broke and broken. Like, don't ask me. We don't have any money. We could barely pay the bills. We could do this. So I found as an adult making a quarter of a million dollars a year and being broken and broke. Like, what am I doing repeating the past? So I'm like, OK, I got to I got to manage this. So let's look at what are those inherited beliefs? You just can't pull one in and go now I'm prosperous.

19:27You got to work deep to go. What's that limiting mindset keeps you going to reshape your relationship with money? Now, I don't know if you know this, John, but money is a masculine energy. So if you have any daddy stuff, if you have any man stuff at all, men and women, it's all connected to money. You got my therapist and my money coach talked to me and she said, Susie, you got money's masculine. You need to work on those relationships. I'm like, I've been in therapy for years. Come on. Right. She's like, go clean it up. You got to clean it up. You got to heal it. You got to forgive it. You got to let it go.

20:00Well, I was always seeking my dad's approval. Like, am I good enough? Am I special enough? You know, nine kids, you're just lost in the shuffle. Right. And once I realized that I'll never get the approval that I'm seeking. So how can I approve myself? What do I need to say to him? Well, how do I need to have a different conversation with him? which back then I remember writing him this letter John that said I feel like I'm a 30 year old woman acting like a three year old child trying to get her daddy's love I can't do that anymore I love you and I want to have this relationship and I just don't know how but I can't keep hoping oh my gosh my dad changed on a dime immediately he wasn't a really good communicator and I remember one Thanksgiving John I was there and he was just following me around you know and I'm like what is he doing?

20:48And I sat on the porch and he sat next to me and he's like, hi, Sue. I'm like, hey, dad, how's it going, Sue? I'm like, good. I didn't realize it in the moment. Like, I just remember driving home going, oh my gosh, he was trying. That was huge. It wasn't like the parting of the Red Seas I wanted, but that started healing my money relationship. I know it sounds esoteric. And you're like, that has nothing to do with that. I promise you, I have made more money, cap more money, because I've really looked at what does money mean to me? What relationships do I need to heal that are masculine? And how do I heal my masculinity?

21:24Because I'm very masculine when it comes to business. How do I just be a girl? How do I be woman? How do I not try to compete with you? Right? I'm never going to compete with you. You're a dude, I'm a woman. Like, how can I celebrate you and acknowledge you and appreciate you as my brother, versus trying to be in competition with you, right? And trying to prove myself, am I good enough? I know it's kind of deep. And you're like, what does that have to do with profit? I promise you, let's dig in deep and find out. Like we have something called the money blocks that I unlock what has been blocking you for years.

21:59And we clean those money blocks up to remove that so that you can start with a clean slate. And now when you see it come up, you can notice it and go, oh, that's that. Oh, that's my issue. Let me clean that up. It doesn't mean that doesn't mean I'm not good enough. It doesn't mean I'm not successful. That's my smallness. That's my limiting belief. Change occurs when you notice what's stopping you, what's getting in your way, what's helping you succeed. And when you notice it, then you have power to do something. Change doesn't occur when you stick your head in the sand and just work harder because we've all tried that.

22:35We're doing the same thing over and over again, expecting a result. Now, I know you've done a lot of work on yourself. You listen to Fire Nation. You listen to other podcasts. But if you want to crack this code, you got to have some support. I love that phrase. Change occurs when you notice. And Fire Nation, you can see why Susie is a globally recognized profitability coach. I mean, talk about mic drop. And Susie, you shared a ton of value bombs today. What do you want to really make sure with everything that we've talked about that Fire Nation really gets? What do you want us to walk away with?

23:10Then share any way that we can connect with you, any call to action you might have for us, and then we'll say goodbye. Yeah, absolutely. So here's what I want you to know. Growing up poor, I always thought that I had to fit into some club. And the reality is the club is wealth is your birthright. It's not for some of us. It's for all of us. I had to redesign my past to create my future, to celebrate everything that did happen, to create my new possibility of who I am inside the world. If I let my past dictate my future, I would never have the unrecognizable life that I have today. So wealth is your birthright.

23:49It's not for some of us. It's for all of us. So you can get ahold of me by my website and all my social media handles is my name, Susie Carter, C-A-R-D as in dollar and dinero and delicious

24:04and you can go to our website. I'm going to give you 10 points to profit. So you go to my website, you'll see 10 points to profit. It's a free training. I give you what are the 10 areas in your business that have holes in them and how do we fix those holes so you can start your way onto a profitable future. And what's that URL? Suzy Carter.com. Wealth is your birthright. Wow. Fire Fire Nation, that gives me shivers because A, it's true, and B, most people don't ever believe those words. And it's so sad because that is your truth, because wealth is your birthright. Fire Nation, you're the average.